Cable connector for underground applications

ABSTRACT

A rugged and compact cable connector for direct burial applications providing a permanent, watertight, insulated junction, including an electrically conducting member for providing direct metal to metal electrical contact between the cable and the body of the connector.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Stephen P. Becker Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

June 23, 1969 Feb. 16,

a corpor ation of New York CABLE CONNECTOR FOR UNDERGROUND Primary Examiner-Darrell L. Clay Attorney- Kane, Dalsimer, Kane, Sullivan & Kunucz Papp et al 174/72UX APPLICATIONS 4clmms4nrawmg Figs ABSTRACT: A rugged and compact cable connector for U.S.CI 174/93, direct burial applications providing a permanent, watertight, 174/77, 174/90; 339/270, 339/273 insulated junction, including an electrically conducting Int. Cl H011 7/06; member for providing direct metal to metal electrical contact HOZg 15/08 between the cable and the body ofthe connector.

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'7 i IL-31313! a I n 1* :1: 2 TIL? I m 28$ lii 1 28 a M 24 2a SHEET 1 0F 2 PATENTEB FEB] 61% SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTOR 57.5 12 BAT/f5? ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ithas become highly desirable for a number of reasons to bury electrical components underground. Connector assemblies for such underground applications must be specifically designed with this end use in view. In direct burial applications where the connection is made and'left without benefit of enclosure in a vault, the connection means must be moistureproof and provide its own sealing. Additionally, it must be relatively simple to use.

Also, it is found desirable for many application that a direct metal to metal contact be made between the metal strands of the cable and the body of the connector so that with time and the changes which all materials undergo the direct metal to metal contact will be maintained so that the electrical and mechanical connection will not be weakened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION tion in adjacency with the inner surface of the body bore and a,

conductor-receiving bore for embracing the exposed conductor end, a crimping sleeve projecting rearwardly from the connector, cone and providing a continuation of the conductorreceiving bore, the crimping sleeve constructed and arranged to have portions of its diameter reduced to embrace the exposed conductor end in tight contact, a threaded-bore section ofthe body bore outwardly of the conical section, a fastening member having a fastening member bore through which the conductor can pass to be received within the connector cone, a threaded portion of the fastening member cooperable with the threaded bore section for attaching the fastening member thereto, an abutting surface of the fastening member abutting theconnector cone and urging the connectorcone toward the. body with the connector cone being brought into firm contact with the body by the wedging action of its outer surface and the surface of the bore of the conical section, a. resilient washer member with first and second annular surfaces respectively abuttingly engaging the'body at the insulating coating and the fastening member providing a seal between the fastening member and the body bore, an internal camming surface provided by a flared outer end of the fastening member bore of increased diameter, a resilient grommet member and a sealing nut cooperable with the fastening member, the sealing nut having an inwardly facing annular shoulder abutting the resilient grommet member and urging it between the camming surface and the conductor providing a seal between the fastening member and the conductor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. I is a partially sectional longitudinal view of a cable connector constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of that portion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1 which it utilized for cable attachment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The cable connector which is the subject of this invention is indicated in the FIGS. by the numeral while cables connected thereby are indicated respectively by the numerals I2 and 14.

The connector has a conducting body portion I6 provided with an insulating coating 18 such as durable hard vinyl by means of a dip-coating process. Of course, other insulating materials can be used for coating or enclosing the body portion 16 and other means of attachment of the insulating materials can be utilized in the practice of the invention.

A portion 18a of the insulating material extends toward the bore 16a of the body portion 16 covering the edge of the mouth of the bore while a portion 18b of the material forms an annular section spaced from bore 16a,

The bore is provided with two sections. One bore section is cylindrical and indicated by the numeral 16b and pro vided with threads. The second bore section is indicated in the FIGS. by the numeral 16c and is conical in configuration with the cross-sectional diameter of the bore adjacent section 16b greatest in diameter but less in diameter than the diameter of bore section 16b providing an annular shoulder 16d.

The remaining parts of the connector are connector cone 20, jam nut 22, washer 24, sealing grommet 26 and sealing nut 28.

Connector cone 20 is formed of an electrically conducting material and provided with a flange 20a and a projecting cylindrical crimpingsleeve 20b. The connecting cone 20 is pro vided, as will be explained below in greater detail, to encircle andgrip the strands 12a of a cable 12 attached to the connector and the cone and its sleeve are sized to the conductorto provide optimum encirclement and strand to strand contact. The sleeve 20b is provided to surround the strands 12a and to become reduced in diameter at certain zones by crimping in the fully assembled connector and firmly grip the cable strands in tight metal to metal contact, The internal surface of the cone 20 might be provided with a corrugated configuration to aid in the formation of a firm contact with the conductor strand. The outer surface of cone 20 is formed to abut in tight wedge contact the surface of bore 160.

The jam nut 22 is formed of nonconducting material and has a hex nut central flange with cylindrical portions 22a and 22b extending from opposite sides thereof and providing a continuous longitudinal bore 220 which is flared outwardly slightly at 22d at one end. A major part of the outer surfaces of portions 22a and 22b is threaded. Jam nut 22 is preferably formed of a plastic material.

Washer 24 is annular and formed of rubber or other plastic material. In the final assembly it is between ring 18b and portion 22b and abuts insulation at 180. The sealing grommet 26 is also formed of a plastic material and in the preferred form the material is soft plastic as compared to the harder plastic from which the jam nut 22 and sealing nut 28 are formed. Flexible sealing grommet 26 is nonconducting and is provided with a central longitudinal bore 26a of uniform diameter and a section 26b at one end having a uniform outer diameter. The remaining portion of the outer surface of grommet 26 is tapered having an outer diameter which decreases constantly to provide an outer conical surface having its greater diameter adjacent section 26b.

The sealing nut 28 is also formed of nonconducting material and has a threaded bore section 280 and a lesser diameter bore section forming annular shoulder 28b. The outer surface of nut 28 is in hex configuration. In assembling or in attaching cable 12 to the connector the cable is prepared by skinning the insulation in the usual manner to expose threaded portion 120. The cable end is threaded through the sealing nut 28, grommet 26, jarnnut 22 and washer 24 and the exposed end of the cable is inserted within sleeve 20b and connector cone 20.

The sleeve 20b is then crimped at zones 20c, 20d and 20a to reduce the diameter thereof at these zones to cause the sleeve at 20a, 20d and 20s to firmly embrace cable end 12a and establish firm mechanical and electrical metal to metal contact between cone and cable.

Connector cone 20 is placed within bore 16c of member I6 and its outer conical surface is adjacent the conical surface of bore section 16c. Sealing washer 24 abuts on one side the end of body member 16 adjacent the insulating coating 18a and 18b which enables the washer 24 to be slipped between the insulation and the jam nut 22. The threaded portion of the jam nut is engaged with the threads of the body member 16 and rotation of the jam nut wedges the conical connector cone into bore section 16c of the member 16 with the jam nut abutting flange 20c providing a captive connection between the connector cone and the conductor giving firm metal to metal contact between conductor and connector. Washer 24 and the insulation 18 seals the body member and prevents entry of moisture within the bore thereof. The insulation 18 in contact with washer 24 provides a sealed junction. Tightening of sealing nut 28 completes the watertight seal by the annular shoulder of sealing nut 28 forcingthe sealing grommet 26 within the flared portion of the bore of the jam nut.

it is noted therefore that the conductor can be connected to the assembly by mechanical tightening with a standard wrench to provide a permanent yet easily disconnected joint.

An identical assembly is used to connect cable 14 to the connector and thus place the conducting portion of that cable in electrical contact with portion 12a of cable 12 through body portion 16 of the connector. in FIG. 1 only the cable 14, jam nut 22 and sealing nut 28' and washer 24' of this end of the assembly are shown.

in the practice and use of the invention a set or kit may be supplied to the lineman including for example, the jam bushing 22, gasket 24, sealing nut 28 and sealing grommet 26 as well as the cone 20. A crimping tool is generally readily available and standard equipment with most linemen. Thus, the lineman will use the kit parts to make the connection after having stripped the ends of the conductor.

lclaim:

1. In a connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting conductors, a body formed of an electrically conductive material, a body bore in said body, an insulating coating of said body, a conical section of said body bore having its greatest diameter adjacent the entrance to the body bore, an electrically conducting connector cone having an outer conical surface at least partially within said conical section in adjacency with the inner surface of said body bore and a conductor receiving bore for embracing the exposed conductor end, a crimping sleeve integral with and projecting rearwardly from said connector cone and providing a continuation of said conductor-receiving bore, said crimping sleeve adapted to have portions of its diameter reduced to'embracc the exposed conductor end in tight contact, a threaded bore section of said body bore outwardly of said conical section, a fastening member having a fastening member bore through which said conductor can pass to be received with 'said connector cone, a threaded portion of said fastening member cooperating with said threaded bore section for attaching said fastening member thereto, and an abutting surface of said fastening member abutting said connector cone and urging said connector cone toward said body with said connector cone being brought into firm contact with said body by the wedging action of its outer surface and the surface of the bore of said conical section, a resilient washer member with first and second annular surfaces respectively abuttingly engaging said body at said insulating coating and said fastening member providing a seal between said fastening member and said body bore, an internal camming surface provided by a flared outer end of said fastening member bore of increased diameter, a resilient grommet member and a sealing nut cooperating with said fastening member, said sealing nut having an inwardly facing annular shoulder abutting said resilient grommet member and urging it between said camming surface and said conductor providing a seal between said fastening member and said conductor.

2. A connector assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which the connector is provided with a radially extending flange which is abutted by the abutting surface of the fastening member. t

3. A connector assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which the insulation terminates in a f rst portion extending toward the body bore and an annular section spaced from said body bore and said washer member sealingly embraces and lies between said annular section and said fastening member and sealingly abuts said first portion.

4. A connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting conductors including in combination a body formed of an electrically conductive material, end portions extending from said body, an end bore in each of said end portions, an insulating coating of said body, a conical section of said end bore having its greatest diameter outwardly of said body, an electrically conducting connector cone having an outer conical surface at least partially within said conical section in adjacency with the inner surface of said end bore, a conductor-receiving bore for embracing the exposed conductor end, a crimping sleeve projecting rearwardly from said connector cone and providing a continuation of said conductor receiving bore, said crimping sleeve adapted to have portions of its diameter reduced to embrace the exposed conductor end in tight contact, a threaded bore section of each end bore, a fastening member having a fastening member bore through which said respective conductor can pass to be received within said connector cone, a threaded portion of said fastening member cooperating with said threaded bore section for attaching said fastening member thereto, an abutting surface of said fastening member abutting said connector cone and urging said connector cone toward said body with said connector cone being brought into firm contact with said body by the wedging action of its outer surface and the surface of the bore of said conical section, a resilient washer member with first and second annular surfaces respectively abuttingly engaging said end at said insulating coating and said fastening member providing a seal between said respective fastening member and said respective bore, an internal camming surface provided by a flared outer end of said fastening member bore of increased'diameter, a resilient grommet member and a sealing nut cooperating with said fastening member, said sealing nut having an inwardly facing annular shoulder abutting said resilient grommet member and urging it between said camming surface and said respective conductor providing a seal between said respective fastening member and said respective conductor. 

1. In a connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting conductors, a body formed of an electrically conductive material, a body bore in said body, an insulating coating of said body, a conical section of said body bore having its greatest diameter adjacent the entrance to the body bore, an electrically conducting connector cone having an outer conical surface at least partially within said conical section in adjacency with the inner surface of said body bore and a conductor receiving bore for embracing the exposed conductor end, a crimping sleeve integral with and projecting rearwardly from said connector cone and providing a continuation of said conductor-receiving bore, said crimping sleeve adapted to have portions of its diameter reduced to embrace the exposed conductor end in tight contact, a threaded bore section of said body bore outwardly of said conical section, a fastening member having a fastening member bore through which said conductor can pass to be received with said connector cone, a threaded portion of said fastening member cooperating with said threaded bore section for attaching said fasteNing member thereto, and an abutting surface of said fastening member abutting said connector cone and urging said connector cone toward said body with said connector cone being brought into firm contact with said body by the wedging action of its outer surface and the surface of the bore of said conical section, a resilient washer member with first and second annular surfaces respectively abuttingly engaging said body at said insulating coating and said fastening member providing a seal between said fastening member and said body bore, an internal camming surface provided by a flared outer end of said fastening member bore of increased diameter, a resilient grommet member and a sealing nut cooperating with said fastening member, said sealing nut having an inwardly facing annular shoulder abutting said resilient grommet member and urging it between said camming surface and said conductor providing a seal between said fastening member and said conductor.
 2. A connector assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which the connector is provided with a radially extending flange which is abutted by the abutting surface of the fastening member.
 3. A connector assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which the insulation terminates in a first portion extending toward the body bore and an annular section spaced from said body bore and said washer member sealingly embraces and lies between said annular section and said fastening member and sealingly abuts said first portion.
 4. A connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting conductors including in combination a body formed of an electrically conductive material, end portions extending from said body, an end bore in each of said end portions, an insulating coating of said body, a conical section of said end bore having its greatest diameter outwardly of said body, an electrically conducting connector cone having an outer conical surface at least partially within said conical section in adjacency with the inner surface of said end bore, a conductor-receiving bore for embracing the exposed conductor end, a crimping sleeve projecting rearwardly from said connector cone and providing a continuation of said conductor receiving bore, said crimping sleeve adapted to have portions of its diameter reduced to embrace the exposed conductor end in tight contact, a threaded bore section of each end bore, a fastening member having a fastening member bore through which said respective conductor can pass to be received within said connector cone, a threaded portion of said fastening member cooperating with said threaded bore section for attaching said fastening member thereto, an abutting surface of said fastening member abutting said connector cone and urging said connector cone toward said body with said connector cone being brought into firm contact with said body by the wedging action of its outer surface and the surface of the bore of said conical section, a resilient washer member with first and second annular surfaces respectively abuttingly engaging said end at said insulating coating and said fastening member providing a seal between said respective fastening member and said respective bore, an internal camming surface provided by a flared outer end of said fastening member bore of increased diameter, a resilient grommet member and a sealing nut cooperating with said fastening member, said sealing nut having an inwardly facing annular shoulder abutting said resilient grommet member and urging it between said camming surface and said respective conductor providing a seal between said respective fastening member and said respective conductor. 